The 96th Annual Hunger Games
by macy-terreth
Summary: Macy Terreth always knew that one day she might be picked to go into the Hunger Games and fight to the death. After the Katniss Everdeen uprising, things are harder for everyone. 48 tributes enter, but only one comes out.
1. Chapter 1

I awoke to darkness. I always make an effort to wake before the sun in order to greet the beautiful light. I looked out the small hole we had for a window, which faced the town. As the sun approached, I smiled. "I beat you to it again." I whisper to the sun. Clairidy stirred in my mom's bed beside me, and I heard what no one else could hear. Her and mom's heartbeat, linked together, beating at the same time. I quickly slide out of bed, cross our tiny shack's floor in two steps.

Pulling on my leather boots that have molded onto my feet, I feel my hand around the dark closet to pull out my tree blades, my pouch of daggers, and my jacket. I shove my hands in my pocket, and feel a soft package. I pull it out, revealing a little square of cheese that Clairidy must have managed to salvage from that town cow. I can always share it with William.

I push the door open, and breath in the crisp spring air and for a while, I stare at the trees, breathing silently. I quietly close the doors behind me, and out I start, running fast, pulling on my circle blades that my dad hand-welded for me and scale a tree. I crouch, staying silent. Then I leap, out of one tree, to the next, to the next and then, pounce, grab the far one's branch, right OVER the fence, swing up, leap to the next tree, grab the branch, roll down and then land on my knees.  
Something rustles, and I listen. Heartbeat too slow to be a deer, but too fast to be...  
I know who it is...

"Amazing! 10 points!"

"Shut up William!" I yell at him, this perfect blond hair blue eyed boy.

" What're you afraid of? Ghosts?" He asks me, swinging down from a tree.

"Honestly, trying to save us from being killed for going over the fence." I answer, giving him a light punch on his arm. "But you're the one being so frickin noisy."

He laughs, then stops short, mid-laugh. William breathes, then says, "Race ya."  
He bursts off, and when I open my mouth to say something, I shut it and run after his blur of a brown shirt. Suddenly he turns, and I near smash into a tree. I'll never catch him on the ground. The trees are more my element. I pull on my circle blades and race up the tree, leaping from one tree to another. Finally I reach a clearing and I still hear him running and occasionally looking behind him.  
I have an idea, I hang my legs over the branch I'm sitting on, and get ready to swing down hanging upside down.

"Boo!" I scream, swinging down just when he turns his face in time to see mine. He screams, I pull myself up, just in time to see him trip over a fallen tree, and crash in to a clearing.

I laugh as I drop out of the branch.

William sits up. He doesn't say anything, just sits up, and smiles. "Okay, now we're even." He says, holding up the piece of cheese that must have fell out of my pocket. I walk over into the clearing, and he sits beside me, and we both stare off at the mountains covered in a lovely shade of orange from the sky and the leaves.

"Hey," William whispers, reaching his hand into his pocket, "Look what I have."  
He pulls out two pieces of bread and some dried venison.

"Oh my god, is this real?" I grab one of the bread rolls and a small piece of the deer meat. I smell the bread first. It's still warm.

"It better be. Cost me the fat pheasant and two squirrels I caught the other day." William answers, nibbling the cheese.

I break off a piece of the cheese, and nibble some of the bread with the cheese and meat. My stomach growls.

He looks at me, an odd smile on his face. "When's the last time you ate?" The casual 16-year-old asks me.

"Not since yesterday." I answer back. I'm not lying, yesterday I ate a couple berries that I managed to steal from the mayor. Clairidy and mom got most of them. They need their energy.  
My best friend and hunting partner holds out the rest of the meat and half of his bread roll.

"Here."

I sit silently.

"Take it, Cy, because I know you're going to give what you have now to Clairidy." William offers.  
Cy, Short for Macy, only he says it like the word sigh, not like how it sounds in my name, a see.  
And he's right. I was planning to save it for Clairidy.

"Thank you." I whisper.  
He shakes his head.  
We sit together, in silence, until he asks me, "How many times has your name been entered?"

"46. You?"

"54."

He's speaking about the reaping. Ever since the Katniss Everdeen uprising on the 74th annual Hunger Games, president Snow's heir, now known as President Frost, to honour President Snow, things have been worse for the districts. Each year, each district is forced to send 4 tributes, and is still forced to emerge with one victor out of those 48 kids. The districts are treated worse than before, that to get food, your name gets entered twice, for a smaller amount of food. Fences surround every district, and even the career districts are struggling. Everybody is forced to live in shacks, even the mayor, who has a slightly bigger one.

"I need to win." William says to me. "That money could save our district. Us, our families."

"Promise me something." I whisper.

He looks at me. "Yes?"

"Promise me, that no matter what, even if this entire world is against it,"

"Yes Macy?" He asks, leaning closer.

"You will not die. But if you do, I won't blame you. Also, don't cheer if they draw your name, because I swear, I will volunteer."

"I promise."

He inches closer, stretching his neck.

I don't know what to do. He's leaning closer, his face getting closer to mine.

"Would all children between the ages of 12 and 18 report to the main square immediately!" They announced. "The reaping is about to begin!"

William smiles at me, neck still stretched. "I guess the odds aren't exactly in my favour."

We get up and silently sneak back into the district, managing to catch a little rabbit for his brother on the way.

I walk into my house and see mother dressing Clairidy in an old blue dress of mine.

"Macy!" She wraps her arms around me and sobs. "I don't want to go. Please." She begs.

"It'll be okay, Clair, your name's been in there once, there are hundreds of other kids names in there. They're not going to pick you." I kiss her forehead, a little worried from what I heard about Katniss Everdeen's sister. She was picked, her one name to thousands.

"I have something for you too." Mother says to me, gesturing to a white shirt and a brown skirt. "It was mine."

"Thank you." I take the clothes. Then I hand Clairidy the cheese, meat and bread. "Here. Eat."  
I give Mother half the roll and some meat. "You too."

I get dressed, and then Clairidy and I hold hands as we walk to the town square.

"12 year olds over here!" A peacemaker barked.

"Go, Clair." I urge her over to the table as I shuffle over to the 16 year old table. The peacemaker over there forces my hand over. She slits my thumb a little and then asks,

"Name?"

"Terreth, Macy."

She grabs my hand and presses it on my name square.

"Next!" She screams. I walk over to line up, and glance at William. I shake my head. He shrugs.

When all the kids line up, a tall woman, who's height is only exaggerated by her high heel shoes walks up onto the stage. Should I say stage?

"Welcome, welcome, it is time, as you all know, it is time to select four, two young men and women, to have the honour of representing District 7 in the 96th annual Hunger Games. And we all know how much fun that is, don't we now?" She smiled, shining her white teeth at everyone. Silence answered her. "Ladies first."

She walked over to a tall bowl, plucked a name from the ladies bowl, and a name from the second bowl. I held my breath.

"Our main two tributes are..." Let me explain this to you. The first two tributes that are drawn are more important and their the ones that get most of the sponsors. The wild cards, which mean the second pair are kind of the ones you kill first, and they get to bring some food into the arena, marking them the easy prey.  
"Macy Terreth and William Trevor!"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I wish I owned the Hunger Games. :(**

**THANKS FOR READING. PLEASE ENJOY.**

Chapter 2  
Someone screamed. I looked at Clairidy as the peacemakers escorted me away. She struggled and then burst through the crowd. Her mouth nearly formed the words when Sam, William's best friend and my good friend scooped her up. She cried and started to thrash and scream. "I vol-" Sam clapped his hand over her mouth.  
I nodded to him, and he nods back. Clairidy is grabbed by mom, who silently leads her back to the group of 12 year olds.  
"Well, then and our wild card tributes are..."  
I held my breath.  
"Sam Smith and Sadie Coohen!"  
Crap.

Then we're dragged away and put in separate rooms to talk to our family. Or friends.  
My mother and sister come in. I grab Clairidy and crush her in a tight hug.  
"Macy, please don't leave. You have to win." I bend down and look at her. "I will. I promise Clair, for the both of us. Don't take anymore food from them. Go to the market with Alex."  
She nods.  
Then I look my mother in the eye.  
"Make sure you get enough to eat, and when Clair's gone with Alex stay with William's mom."  
She nods too. Then I hug her.  
When they leave, someone else bursts in.  
Alex, William's younger brother.  
"Alex-"  
"I just want to let you know, I'll take care of Clair. Don't worry. She's my best friend, and my mom will watch your mom. I know Clair can't hunt but I will do my absolute-"  
I grab him while he's still talking and hug him.  
"Thank you. You really are William's brother."  
"No problem." And then he left.  
And then one last person came in.  
"Cy." William whispered.  
And we didn't talk, we just hugged for a really long time.  
"Why'd you come see me?" I whispered into his ear really quietly. "You know we're going to see each other a lot."  
"I know I was just... Worried." He looks at me. "How's your family dealing with it?"  
"Oh, your brother is awesome." I answered back.  
"TIME TO GO!" The peacemaker yells.  
I sigh, as the peacemaker pushes William and I onto the train.  
We hold hands the hands the whole way in case they try to split us up.  
We sit, on the train, and the lady from before comes up to us.  
I sit beside William and lean my head on his shoulder. It's comforting.  
"Aww," She says, sitting in front of us. "You too are so cute together."  
I look at her oddly and sit up quickly, shuffling away from William.  
"We're not together." I mutter, pushing a strand of my hair up.  
"Oh." She replies flatly. "But it was a compliment. Now follow me."  
We get up, and she leads us to a room filled with food.  
"This is the dining car. You know what we do here. The girls room is down the hall on the right, boys, left."  
She looks at us.  
"Well, what're you waiting for? Eat!"  
We sit down, and eye the food. Sam's stomach growls. He grabs a chicken leg, and bites into it. He swallows.  
"It's good!" Sam cries to us. "Try it."  
We start eating slowly. A man comes out of a room, and sits down at the table, and starts fingering his empty cup.  
"Are these what I have to work with?" He asks the woman.  
"Yes, Kyles, they are." She answers.  
I still don't know her name.  
"Finallin, they are horrible. Scrawny. How do you expect them to win?"  
"Kyles..." She starts, but he pours a cup of tea, into his glass cup, and then fills the rest up with various alcohols. He sits down, and looks at us.  
"I'm Kyles. Call me your mentor. I won the games because I was better than anyone else."  
I can smell the alcohol on his breath as he talks to us.  
"Introduce yourselves."  
We sit silently, and William swallows.  
"What? Are you deaf?" Kyles asks us, rudely.  
"Excuse me, but that was rude!" Sadie pipes.  
"Ahh... Feisty. Good for getting a sponsor." Kyles smiles. "Your name, young lady?"  
"Sadie." She mutters.  
"Sadie," He repeats. "Lovely. Just rolls on the tongue."  
"You." He points to William. "And your girlfriend." He points to me.  
"I'm not his-" I start, but Kyles cuts me off.  
"I've seen you two together!" He yells. "Don't tell me what to think!"  
I stay silent.  
"William." William says. "And she's Macy."  
"See, that's the type of behaviour that earns you a sponsor. You wouldn't last if you didn't have a sponsor." He said specifically at me.  
I opened my mouth to say something, but then I shut it again.  
"Good." Kyles says. "And you?" He asks Sam.  
"Sam!" Sam says, mouth full of chicken.  
"Wow, so we got the love birds, Ms. Feisty and Mr. Cheerful. Hey, you two, Sam and Sadie, you guys would make a good pair."  
Sadie ignores him.  
"I don't like William." I say coldly. "He's my best friend."  
"Uh huh." Kyles mutters, not even looking at me. "Hey Sam, is the gravy good?"  
"Did you not hear me?" I ask, just as angry, "I will not be your guinea pig and pretend to like William just to get a sponsor."  
"Sorry missy, but you will need a sponsor to survive. Unless you want to die, which I wouldn't mind, I'd advise you listen to me."  
Kyles reaches for a fruit knife to cut his bread. I grab it before him, throw it at the apple in his hand, and pin it to the wall.  
It almost hit his face, so he just sits there, gaping at me.  
"I'm sorry!" Finallin sat up, angry. "Did you just throw a knife and an apple's gores at a velvet carpeted wall?"  
"I need to be excused." I got out of my chair, and started to walk to my room.  
"That's right! Just walk away from ruining velvet! This has golden silk embroidered on it, you know!" Finallin yells after me.  
Kyles licks his lips.  
"Looks like we might actually stand a chance this year." Kyles mutters.  
I sit in my room, thinking to myself silently.  
Sadie comes in.  
"Are you okay?" She asks me.  
"Yeah. I'm fine." I reply.  
"We're having dessert, so I was wondering if you wanted to join us."  
"Maybe later."  
She nods in understanding, and leaves.  
But there is no later, because I fall asleep.  
And dream.  
I'm walking through a forest, bare feet, in the cold autumn air. Wind rattles the dead tree branches around me.  
Where am I going?  
A cold harsh wind suddenly whips across my face, blowing my hair up around it, forcing my hand up to pull it out of the way so that I can see.  
Clairidy is standing there, her hand outstretched at me. Her face is terrified.  
"Clair?" I reach for her hand, but suddenly the wind rips through the air, tearing her piece by piece away, carrying her away from me.  
"Clair!" I scream, running for her, but she is already gone.  
Then I am alone.  
A shadow sitting alone at a chessboard looks up at me.  
"Who are you waiting for?" I whisper, my voice small.  
"No one." The shadow answers me. It has no voice, just layers of whispers forming words.  
"The game has yet to begin."  
"What are you playing for?" I ask.  
"Lives."  
"Who are you playing against?"  
"Why all the questions?"  
"I'm just curious."  
"If you want to win, you should know the answers."  
"What if-"  
The shadow cuts me off.  
"Good luck."  
"Wait!"  
It tears me away from the world.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
I wake up in darkness, Sadie's soft breathing filling my ears.

I sit on my bed in the darkness, but then I hear people laughing.

Slowly I stand up quietly, get out of the room and down the hall and see Kyles and William sitting there, laughing and drinking.

"Kyles!" I cry out.

He hiccups and smiles at me.

"Hey missy." He raises his glass, his long brown hair dirty.

"Cy," William starts, "I swear, I wasn't drinking. I needed to keep an eye on him because I was taking a walk and he was sticking his head out the window."

I nod in understanding.

"Hey missy," Kyles hiccoughs, and grins at me. "Y'wanna a lil sip?" He raises his bottle at me.

"How much has he drank?" I ask, staring at Kyles.

"I dunno. I haven't bothered counting the bottles." William pointed to a pile of empty bottles, about 20.  
Kyles burps, and then leans over, throwing up on the carpet.

"Well Finnalin isn't going to be too happy about that, is she?"

"I don't care what Finnalin thinks!" Kyles shouts. "She thinks she's all that with her big shoes and her ugly nose with her pink skin and blue freckles!"

He laughs, and then collapses on the floor, in his own puke.

"Well that's just great." I say.

William and I clean him up, me mopping the puke, and him cleaning up Kyles.

After, we sit in the dining car together.

"So why were you awake?" He asks me, after a moment of silence.

"I... Had a dream."

I look up at him and he seems genuinely concerned.

"I don't know how to explain it, but there was this voice. And it told me that I needed to know the answers to the questions in my head in order to win."

William shook his head. "It was just a dream."

"It told me that it was playing chess for... Lives." I whispered.

He smiled at me, and opened up his arms. "Come here."

I sit beside him.

"Don't worry Cy, you'll see. Everything will be alright."

'Everything will be alright.'

And with those words, I fall asleep.


End file.
